OMV begins chemical recycling operations in Austria

OMV has started operating at its Austrian plastic waste recycling plant in Schwechat. The facility branded ReOil boasts an annual processing capacity of 16,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle plastics, the equivalent of waste produced by the same number of households.

Alfred Stern, chairman of the executive board and CEO at OMV: “The essential materials of the future need to become more sustainable and circular. OMV’s chemical recycling technology plays a pivotal role in driving growth in our Chemicals segment.” 

“The start-up of the new ReOil plant marks a significant milestone on our path toward achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. Complementing mechanical recycling, ReOil processes plastic waste that would otherwise remain unrecyclable, reintegrating it into the value chain. Through our Strategy 2030, we are advancing circularity as a cornerstone of our responsible transformation.” 

OMV’s ReOil technology was developed in 2009 to enhance the sustainability of plastics by reintegrating valuable resources into the value chain, avoiding their disposal through incineration or landfill. ReOil achieves this by transforming post-consumer mixed plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, a raw material for producing sustainable base chemicals. 

These chemicals are then converted into various essential everyday applications, including food packaging, healthcare products, and components for electric vehicles. 

Scaling recycling

OMV estimates that in 2030, a 34% reduction of CO2 can be achieved if post-consumer mixed plastic waste is chemically recycled in the ReOil plant instead of being incinerated. 

The initial ReOil pilot plant at the OMV Schwechat refinery has been operational since 2018 and has achieved nearly 30,000 cracking hours to date, says the recycler. 

During this pilot period, more than 2.1 million kg of plastic waste was processed sustainably. The successful operations of the pilot plant led to the construction of a larger, scaled-up facility, which OMV has now completed and started up. Both ReOil plants are ISCC Plus certified.

OMV says it is developing a full-scale industrial plant for chemical recycling as a next step. The final investment decision by OMV for this plant is subject to internal approvals. On March 12, OMV secured €81.6 million (US$88 million) in EU funding for its industrial ReOil plant — the largest public grant ever awarded to the OMV Group.